Groundhog Day and No. 250...

193 with his right foot.

27 (only?) with his left foot.

30 with his head. (Pre and Post transplant)

26 penalties (his ex-BFF, CR7 scores same number in a season. League only)

6 Direct Free Kicks. (Top head, 2 against the Arsenal, 1 yesterday and that debut hat-trick clincher against Fernebache)

213 in the '18 yard box.

37 from outside the box. Including this

136 at Old Trafford.

106 elsewhere.

8 at a neutral venue.

In 546 games. An average of almost 1 in 2. Congratulations Wayne. You don't eclipse the long-standing goals tally of an icon like Sir Bob which had stood for 40 odd years in the biggest club in the world by simply being an alleged granny-shagger and generally unfit in your peak years. Frankly speaking, Rooney hasn't been the greatest servant to the club but his ability to weather the many storms during his lengthy career has meant that he now has a genuinely credible record which would take some beating. (Sorry, the Three Lions cap and goal thingy doesn't count. San Marino, Faroe Islands and Liechtenstein. Seriously??!) 

From being a very angry teenager (Why was he so mad?) to the relatively calm daddy of 3 he has now become, Wayne has managed to get into double digits every season since he joined the club. I do feel however that he stalled just short of a genuine world-class talent at a period which should have been the optimum years of his career. Rooney was a more advanced and mature footballer than Cristiano Ronaldo in their initial years together. Their career trajectory since could not have been more different - One has become an all-time great while the other has simply become a propaganda favourite. CR7 famously became a training, practice and fitness animal while Rooney continued to rely solely on his street smarts and natural ability for the bulk of his career. He's only 31 years old but he is these days spoken of in terms similar to one approaching retirement or a MLS (or Chinese) career. 

The idea isn't to denigrate the player at this very epochal moment for not only him but also in the club's history but it does grate when I see talent with so much potential choose to settle for relative mediocrity. My view will continue to be that Rooney could have been much much more if he applied a bit of discipline to his still remarkable career. It is somewhat fitting that he scored his record breaking goal in a game which salvaged a point but still left majority disappointed with the result under the circumstances.  He shall nonetheless be regarded as a club legend even if 2nd tier. Come summer, hopefully it's Bye Jammeh, Welcome Barrow.

As for the game itself, it was a certain deja vu. I was caught up in the time loop of November 2016 and a large swathe of the LvG era where opponents' names could be replaced, the game play was templated, and the results could easily be correctly predicted. Even the Manager's post-match comments were predictable. "We were the better team." "We were just unlucky" "We created chance after chance but the ball just refused to enter...", "My players gave their absolute best and I can not fault them for a lack of effort" etc etc...

Jose Mourinho is a remarkable manager. His records show that he one of the most successful coaches ever and he knows how to win things. He has also however been known to be a negative and defensive tactician throughout his career regardless of the premium attacking talent at his disposal. There is also the reputation of being insufferably arrogant. All three of the latter qualities were in full display in the match against Stoke City at the Brittania.

We were playing a Stoke team who had somewhat steadied its ship but was ripe for a pillaging. Yes, the team is known for being overtly physical and tall but the idea should have been to force them to deal with the mostly smooth running machine our team had become rather than attempt to play them at their own game which failed miserably. No matter how much cosmic dust and magic words Mourinho administers to Fellaini, he can never become SuperTed. Mourinho, against all parameters of common sense, seems to want to constantly prove to the naysayers that Marouane is a vital player in this Manchester United squad and until he can actually prioritise the team's synergy rather than personal pride, I'm afraid it would be mostly same of the same - a D or an L. Fellaini's height could be an advantage in a reactionary situation (i.e. to be used as a forward in search of a winner or equaliser or to defend a lead...) but is often useless in a proactive formation. Did Jose come to Stoke to defend and then try and hit on the counter? As the answer is most likely yes, was that necessary? We had the initiative going into the match and would have been better served making Stoke try to cope with our strengths. The manager must quickly learn that we must be on the front foot as much as we can manage rather than always react regardless of the blossoming character of the team. No needless negativity please.

We continue to fritter away opportunities to make a veritable challenge for a top 4 spot assuming the title is already beyond reach. So many points have been dropped due to a lot of controllable factors not least horrendous finishing. We knew what was at stake following the Liverpool loss. The performance yesterday (as with those several other days) could best be described paraphrasing Mick LaSalle of The San Francisco Chronicle's review of a movie. It states "In place of (goals), the team offers a sort of generalised willingness to be (productive), an atmosphere of high spirits that feels like a lot of people pumping air into a tire that has a hole in it. Everyone is clearly working, but nothing is really happening - and yet the effort is so evident that there's an impulse to reward it." I think this captures the performances succinctly. There's a lot of 'busyness' and activity but very little end product. There are hardly any extraordinary goalkeeping performances against United - It is the finishing that has been abject. See Mata's blooper, Zlatan's pass up, Pogba's vicious but straight volley, Mkhi's space explorer and Lingard's bar rattle. Until we sort this now glaring weakness, there may be yet some more heartbreak ahead.

The issue of the captaincy is one that also needs to be sorted. The designate captain is no longer a starter and his vice has been incapable of leading 2 dogs out of a house for some time now. Mata's 'friendly fire' aside, Smalling's positioning and decision making is continually suspect guilty and his every action creates panic in the defence. A not-so-surprising statistic shows that he is now at fault for the last 6 goals conceded when on the pitch. He seems bereft of confidence and basic know-how. He should't be captaining this team. The 3rd captain, Michael Carrick, 36, is not even certain to be in the team next year. He, like Anthony Martial, was greatly missed yesterday but his direct replacement should be a priority for the club latest June.

This captain and leader must have the necessary football quality and therefore moral right to scream at a Pogba to "Pass the ball!" when he starts his needless Mandinka ballet. Zlatan plays that role now, but I think he's a honest man - statuesque performances like those yesterday will restrain him from often shouting at others to do better. We need a captain who is consistently capable in both name and deed. This deficiency continues to hamper the team and it needs to be expediently and correctly addressed. No 'commercial interests' captains please...

1 point gained or 2 dropped? This was a very different context from the Liverpool game and there was even arguably more at stake here. Liverpool had just lost to relegation-battlers Swansea and our 2 other direct competitors for the top 4 places were playing each other later on - points were going to be dropped. There was great advantage to be derived from a win. But it was a draw salvaged at the very last minute by Wayne's curling 250. City and Spurs eventually played out a 2-2 draw. As you were then. Status quo remains. Not injurious to others but another dent to our UEFA Champions League ambitions. 2 points definitely dropped. Still some way to go though.

Hull City next in the 2nd leg of the semi-finals of the League Cup. We have a 2-0 1st leg advantage. I don't expect a spectacular match but just enough to go through. Game on...

Signing out,

B.L...

In other news:

* Murray, Djokovic and Kerber out of the Australian Open in the 4th round. Federer, Nadal and the Williams sisters remain. Tournament hasn't been top seed friendly.

* Chapecoense, the Brazilian team that lost most of its members in a plane crash last year, played its first game since in a friendly against Palmeiras. There wasn't a dry eye in the stadium. There are some things that go way beyond football...

* America, Donald Trump is your president!